Slayer frontman Tom Araya has revealed why he thinks drummer Dave Lombardo left the band earlier this year.

Araya told Steppin’ Out Magazine, “Th[e] whole issue came down to this: Dave had been jamming with us for a while, as a working member of the band, but he wasn’t a partner. Like all things like that, you have to have agreements, so nobody feels cheated. We had ongoing issues and finally he put us in a position where we had to find someone to replace him. He wasn’t happy, so he decided to have his Facebook rant and told the world about a lot of issues going on within the band that are legally binding and private. I thought that was wrong and it was upsetting. A lot of the claims he made were untrue.”

“Part of the agreement is you don’t do that,” he continues. “Kerry, Jeff and I got on the phone and made a collective decision and we let Dave go and gave Paul a call. Paul said he’d be happy to come back. He has brought some life back into our live performances. He’s in hyper drive and kicking ass, which makes us play faster. People have commented on how energetic we’ve been lately. We’re playing faster than we would have. It’s good injection of adrenaline.”

Lombardo was replaced by Paul Bostaph, who has previously played with the band.

“Even though Dave is not here, I’m honoring him,” says Paul. “I was the drummer in this band for ten years, and Dave came back. And now Dave’s not here and I am. It’s one of those things. I respect him and I respect his playing. He’s part of this legacy; he helped build it. So did Jeff. And in turn, I understand what the fans are saying about that — well, some of them anyway — but the other side of things… If that was me, from a fan’s perspective — and I’ve been a fan of this band — I wouldn’t wanna not hear Raining Blood [one more] time, you know what I mean?! You can get your cover bands play it for the rest of your life. I don’t feel good about that.”

Motorhead is tremendously honored to announce that their most recent release, Aftershock, has garnered their biggest selling first week and highest US chart debut numbers to date.

Aftershock, the band’s 21st album, landed at #22 on the Billboard Top 200 charts this week, as well as #3 on the Hard Music chart, #8 on the Rock chart, and more! See below for all US Billboard and international chart numbers. Motorhead would like to thank their fans around the world for their undying support and dedication.

Motorhead’s Phil Campbell had a few words to share with fans, “Hope all our fans out there are diggin’ the new record! It should be played daily and on a loud basis… and blast it to your friends and enemies!”

Order Aftershock now in a limited edition Digipack through Amazon. Afershock is also available in CD format and vinyl.

Win an autographed vinyl personally signed by Lemmy at the Rockline Studios this week. Go to the Official Motorhead Facebook Page for the rules on how to enter.

Lou Reed, a songwriter and guitarist who helped shape nearly fifty years of rock music, died today. The cause of his death has not yet been released, but Reed underwent a liver transplant in May.

With the Velvet Underground in the late Sixties, Reed fused street-level urgency with elements of European avant-garde music. As a solo artist, from the Seventies into the 2010s, he was chameleonic, thorny and unpredictable, challenging his fans at every turn. Glam, punk and alternative rock are all unthinkable without his revelatory example. “One chord is fine,” he once said, alluding to his bare-bones guitar style. “Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you’re into jazz.”

Metallica and Lou Reed collaborated on 2011’s Lulu, inspired by German expressionist writer Frank Wedekind’s plays Earth Spirit and Pandora’s Box. Although the album was largely rejected by Metallica fans, guitarist Kirk Hammet insists that, Lulu, is one one the band’s best records.

We talked to Rex Brown about the song. According to Rex: “This is a song we had before, one of the first that the guys started jamming on with Jimmy Bain playing bass. There’s two different sets of drum tracks and two different sets of bass tracks, and multiple layers of guitar, and it’s a mammoth, huge sounding song. The melodies fit the song perfectly – this album is really Dewey’s time to shine, his vocals are so powerful.”

Kill Devil Hill is releasing a new song every day leading up to the release. You can listen to the rest of the tracks here – All Released Streaming Tracks

The CD is also available for Pre-Order. The first 500 people who pre-order the album through THE BAND’S official merch store receive a signed CD and everyone who orders is automatically entered to win a Rex Brown Signature Spector Bass autographed by the whole band. There is also a pre-order run through CM Distro that offers a different set of items, so be sure to check out both! Pre-Order the CD Here

When Ronnie Montrose passed away on March 3rd, 2012, friends and musicians immediately wondered what they could do to pay homage to one of rock’s all-time legendary and influential guitarists. The result was some of music’s most renowned artists uniting for a concert only a month and a half later (April 27th) and performing Ronnie classics throughout the evening, which will now make its official DVD release on December 10th, 2013, Concert for Ronnie Montrose – A Celebration of His Life In Music.

Recorded in San Francisco at the historic Regency Ballroom and mixed in 5.1surround sound, the DVD features performance by Ronnie’s past band members in Montrose (Sammy Hagar, Denny Carmassi, Bill Church with Joe Satriani), Gamma (Davey Pattison, Denny Carmassi and Glenn Letsch with Marc Bonilla), performing both groups’ hits.

Additionally, Ronnie’s colleagues and people he mentored and produced over the 40 years of his career are featured as well, including Neal Schon (Journey), Ricky Phillips (Styx), Steve Smith (ex-Journey), Ed Roth, Jimmy Paxson (Stevie Nicks), Jeff Watson (ex-Night Ranger), Tesla, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer (Kiss), Eric Martin (Mr. Big), and more.

The DVD will also include interviews, bonus features, a photo gallery, and an additional set of Ronnie’s hits by an all-star band featuring Chuck Terpo, Mario Cipollina, Tal Morris, Dave Meniketti and the members of Y&T. This was recorded and filmed at Bob Weir’s TRI Studios.

The iconic and legendary Ronnie Montrose has been called the Father Of American Hard Rock-an innovator and an incendiary guitar genius. In his short time with Van Morrison, Ronnie had created the iconic guitar riff for the classic song Wild Nights. In the Edgar Winter group he left even a bigger Mark with his catchy heavy-handed riffs on songs like Free Ride and Frankenstein. But it would be his self-titled release, Montrose that would become the cornerstone of American hard rock. This debut in 1973 crafted such classics as Rock the Nation, Bad Motor Scooter, and Space Station #5. It laid the ground work and became the template for bands like Van Halen and countless subsequent musicians. His musical Journey lead him to the creation of GAMMA where he crafted songs like Voyager, Thunder And Lighting and Ready For Action. Ronnie was always searching and reinventing himself musically. Venturing through a brief instrumental period he brought us both Open Fire and his masterpiece version of Town Without Pity.

Now, the fans will be able to experience the music of Ronnie once again, with the new DVD, Concert for Ronnie Montrose – A Celebration of His Life In Music.

Concert for Ronnie Montrose – A Celebration of His Life In Music track listing: